Why Summer Is the Perfect Time for an Operational Review
Summer is in full swing, and while sunshine, grilling, pools, and beach trips may be on everyone’s mind, home care agency operations still require your attention. We need to build agencies that can operate successfully while we’re away on vacation. To do that, we need clear procedures for every part of the business. Everyone should know who handles caregiver concerns, client issues, and other escalations.
Strengthen Your Home Care Agency Operations with Clear Escalation Protocols
We help our clients create clear escalation protocols for their agencies. These protocols include detailed call handling procedures for common caregiver and client situations, along with disaster recovery plans for both natural and human-caused emergencies. Even with these protocols in place prior to leaving for vacation, you as the owner/operator may still be called, but with proper documentation of escalation procedures, you should only be bothered in dire situations that truly need your assistance to solve.
Teach Your Team What Really Requires an Escalation
Before a vacation, or even a day trip, keep communication open with your clients, their loved ones, caregivers, and office staff. Doing so will reduce stress while you’re away. Teaching your clients and team what appropriate escalations are will drastically improve your quality of life. Paycheck questions are one of the most common after-hours calls. In most cases, they can wait until banks and businesses reopen. Caregivers and clients often call about future schedule changes. Those questions can usually wait until normal business hours. You do need to know if a schedule change is going to happen overnight or the weekend, but if the change isn’t causing an imminent open shift then its not a priority.
Communication Keeps Home Care Agency Operations Running Smoothly
Make sure that your caregivers know that you’re reading the notes they leave in your AMS after each client shift. If you don’t respond or interact with them based on their notes, the caregivers will stop leaving them, and you may end up missing out on critical information. Remind your team that any change in a client’s condition requires immediate attention. They should notify the agency’s on-call administrator and the client’s family while following POA and HIPAA requirements.
Get Expert Help Before Q3
If you’d like to strengthen your home care agency operations before Q3, let’s talk. We can review your current protocols, improve after-hours coverage, and help your team prepare for whatever comes next.
Please reach out to us at twest@seniorcareba.com or (678) 341-0181. In addition to operational consulting and professional services, we also provide an after-hours service to manage your calls on nights, holidays and weekends, and we can help people start an agency without joining a franchise system.